NZ unveils Rugby World Cup festival arrangements

4/28/2010

With 500 days to go before the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) kicks off in New Zealand, more than a million tickets have gone on sale for matches across all the country’s 13 venues. In addition, details of the country’s ‘festival of rugby’ and infrastructure developments have been announced for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

In downtown Auckland, Queens Wharf is destined to become a fan zone with plans for a huge steel and glass structure housing a temporary entertainment facility, media lounge and cruise ship terminal. At the city’s Viaduct Harbour meanwhile, construction is underway on the city’s new 6,000m2 multi-purpose facility - the Viaduct Events Centre. Auckland Airport developments include a new four-star-plus Novotel hotel beside the international terminal, and a 120-room Formule 1 hotel.

The capital Wellington has unveiled a new website, www.Wellingtonnz2011.com, for RWC. Other developments include a new international air terminal, new accommodation, and a waterfront fan zone based in a ‘wharewaka’ - or canoe house - with capacity for 1,200 people. In Christchurch, a NZ$60 million (US$43 million) upgrade of the city’s stadium has been completed, while Cathedral Square will be converted into a mini rugby field beside a giant domed ‘World Ruck’ hospitality facility. Finally in Dunedin, the new NZ$198 million Forsyth Barr or Otago Stadium is due for completion in August 2011.